Nostalgia KC HiLiTES pictures and some Dodge history

[JJEH]

I felt nostalgic and was browsing the KC page on Instagram and several old-school pictures came up, which hit right in the soft spot. I admire fully off-road capable vehicles, especially trucks and SUV's. I thought I'd share them here.

I love these old pictures; they display a gone by era and a sense of adventure.

That's also when I learned about the "Pick-M-Up" graphics package which was available only for 1979. Of course I've seen it on pictures but I never really knew what it was. Until today I love it.

Here's some info about it I copied from Instagram. If you have an account and love old-school cars 'n trucks go follow @smerer383

I did a Q&A about my Pick-M-Up on my story yesterday. Turns out everyone seems to have a lot of questions, so I'm going to do my best to share what I know about them with all of you.

My friend @olivia.mopar asked what is special about the Pick-M-Up package besides the stripes? The answer: Absolutely nothing, or everything. Pick-M-Up was just a graphics package in 1979 only. There was no other standard feature on a Pick-M-Up. Which might be what makes them the most unique of all the Special edition Dodge Trucks (in my opinion.) Every one is different from the next, unlike a Li'l Red Express (no hate) where they're all the same minus a few interior options, a/c and minor other things. Some people think exactly the opposite though. "So it's just a sticker?" Well, technically yes, except there is something in the VIN, because when I bought the truck the title stated Pick-M-Up right on it.

Pick-M-Ups were available in Regular Cabs, Club Cabs, RamChargers, short box, long box, and step side (utiline). As far as I know, a Crew Cab Pick-M-Up was never made.

To go along with these body options, you could choose from 3 stripe color schemes. There was the Red/Orange/Yellow (like mine), Black/Brown/Red/Orange/Yellow (pic 2 on bottom), and a 5 tone blue.

With these 3 stripe schemes, there were also a bunch of available body colors: Red, Orange, White, Silver, Burgundy, Brown, Black, Beige, Tan and possibly more I'm unaware of.

As far as drivetrain goes, a Slant 6 was standard, with 318 & 360 options. Manual or automatic. 2wd or 4wd.

Interior and trim level options were also endless. Wagon wheels, 5 slot chrome wheels (same as LRE), chrome rallye wheels, even plain steel wheels.

After looking at all of the options and seeing just how different each one is, think about this. In 1979 they made just under 5000 Li'l Red Express Trucks. Brand new, LREs outnumbered Pick-M-Ups 10-1. Less than 500 total Pick-M-Ups, before option breakdown. Of those made, I have no idea how many are still around. I've debated starting a Special Edition Dodge Truck registry. Maybe I should.

I often fantasize about restoring an old truck, give it a modern HEMI and make it a daily driver.

 

[JJEH]

Gotta show them big picture

 

[Fishinfool]

Jorge - Since you are a Mopar fan, I attached a couple pics of my new at the time 1982 Dodge Ramcharger on a particularly steep hill. I got out at the beginning of the hill to take the pic, hoping it wouldn't slide back down.....4 spd, 318 motor, low range, that truck would go about anywhere it would fit.

My old mans jeep had KC off road lights on it. I melted the fist set of covers, and boy was that a mess, getting the left overs off the glass lenses...

Larry

 

[rockquarry]

I felt nostalgic and was browsing the KC page on Instagram and several old-school pictures came up, which hit right in the soft spot. I admire fully off-road capable vehicles, especially trucks and SUV's. I thought I'd share them here.

I love these old pictures; they display a gone by era and a sense of adventure.

That's also when I learned about the "Pick-M-Up" graphics package which was available only for 1979. Of course I've seen it on pictures but I never really knew what it was. Until today I love it.

Here's some info about it I copied from Instagram. If you have an account and love old-school cars 'n trucks go follow @smerer383




I often fantasize about restoring an old truck, give it a modern HEMI and make it a daily driver.

I don't know what years you're speaking of and I'm not knowledgeable on Dodge pickups or any other, but...they made what I would call a "crew cab" 4-dr. pickup with bed, in the early to mid-'60s. Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, NM used to get old Air Force vehicles; all of them were dark blue. Among them were Dodge crew cabs. I saw them around 1966 or '67, so I'm assuming they were several years old at the time. Philmont probably used them until the wheels came off. As I recall, they were 2WD pickups, but may been 4WD - it's been a long time ago.

 

[Tom S.]

I started off with a pair of KC's on my 1973 Blazer, seen here stuck in some mud:

I continued with the brand on my 1978 with both driving and fog lights:

On my 2006, I changed brands to LightForce. These lights are polycabonate. The lens cover is switchable from clear to amber fog which also flattens the beam and the light housing turns like the old Maglite flashlights creating a focused beam or wide dispersal. On top of that, they could weather a shotgun blast at 25 yards, which made them favorites of truckers driving the AlCan highway - which the wife and I did in 2007.

Today, I use Rigid brand on my 2018 Colorado for pencil beam, wide dispersal and fog lights. Each light is controlled via wireless remote and can be turned on in pairs or all at once.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I had a 74 K-5 Blazer with a row of 4 KC lights across the top of the windshield, so you could see over tall grass and brush in the dark. Being mounted high let them shine over a hillcrest also as you were climbing.

I had a 4" Daylighter mounted on my spare tire carrier, for backing in the wood.

I had 2" lift kit and 31x15 Gumbo Monster Mudder tires giving me about 5 inches of lift above a stock 4x4 Pick-up. I was driving home one night and a vehicle in front of me didn't like my headlights in his eyes and let me pass. Then he came up behind me and used his brights and spaced it so they hit my mirrors perfectly! He wouldn't Pass or back off or dim! I lit up my 245,000 candle power backup light, He realized my regular headlights were the least bright lights my truck had. The 4 Daylighters across the windshield were about 385,000 candlepower each!

My current truck has a LED light bar. The kids these days think those are bright, but they have no idea what REAL BRIGHT is!

Ivan

 

[Nevada Ed]

Nothing like a BUNCH of HP under the hood;

but when you get into trouble, there is nothing better than a

GOOD set of tires, to get you back HOME !!

At least in Nevada.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Had a 74 Dodge 4x4.
Took it up and down a lot of places.
Did I ever tell you about the time in Nevada that I pulled a Pickup out of a waterhole?
It was a Chevy. Only a Chev can find a waterhole in the desert.

 

[Old 44 Guy]

I remember the first new truck I ever bought A 1954 Ford 1/2 ton V 8 with overdrive, 1988 OTD with 596 buck trade in Boy, those were the days'

 

[JJEH]

I don't know what years you're speaking of...

According to the guy the "Pick-M-Up" was just a graphics package and only available in 1979.

But I hear you on the old Dodge military trucks.... I've seen a few in Stuttgart, Germany @ Panzer Kaserne.... I think the Seabees liked their equipment.

Very nice

I had some extra lights on my earlier cars, don't think any of them was KC. Back then they were so expensive in Germany, people stole those auxiliary lights all the time...

Then, later in life, I put some on my old Dodge and I love it.

I miss it sometimes

When we bought the other RAM, I wanted the KC roof rack with integrated light bar, but because of factory warranty I didn't want to do it. You have to drill holes in the roof. And because of the kids.... it's always something and we don't always get what we want, right?!

But now I said "screw it" and inquired about the roof rack. Not available right now, maybe by the end of the year. Great... so I'll choose another solution, and once I have worked out the bumper mounted bracket situation, I'll order a light bar.

In the meant time I got a pair of ditch- and backup lights. Will show them once thy are installed next week.

The Dart might get some driving lights too, the factory headlights are not the greatest.

 

[JJEH]

Put some lights on today. I know why I quit being a mechanic!

More lights to come but they'll need to wait until I recover